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Canadian Soccer League rife with match fixing, according to report

The Telegraph reports 42 per cent of this year's top tier matches "showed signs of suspicious betting activity.”

The Canadian Soccer League might not draw big crowds, but it appears to attract a gambling element, according to a report by the International Centre for Sport Security. (RICK MADONIK / RICK MADONIK/TORONTO STAR)

Thu., Oct. 15, 2015

The Ontario-based Canadian Soccer League is facing allegations of match fixing after a report on the league by the International Centre for Sport Security was obtained by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

The 31-page document, entitled Canadian Soccer League (CSL) 2015 Season, includes allegations that all 12 of the league’s first division teams participated in at least three suspicious matches between May and early September and that 42 per cent of this year’s top tier matches “showed signs of suspicious betting activity, resulting in an estimated 4.5 million pounds” in potential profits, according to the Telegraph.

Canadian Soccer League chairman Vincent Ursini, who has not seen the ICSS report, called the article “sensationalized.”

“It (match-fixing) going on? I don’t know. Can it be going on? Yes. But I can’t say it’s going on, I can’t say it’s not going on because it’s not a fact,” he said Thursday night.

Ursini said no one at the league is involved; its focus is on developing youth players in Canada and it brings any allegations of match-fixing, like one receiving on Tuesday, to authorities.

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The ICSS confirmed the existence of the report in a statement, saying it was written for law enforcement and sports investigators. “Whilst it is regrettable that this intelligence report has been made public, this apparent conspiracy has grave ramifications for (organized) sport and sport betting well beyond the mere cumulative size of the frauds,” the statement read.

ICSS said the alleged corruption of the league — including allegations of wholesale match-fixing, betting fraud and “quite possibly” money laundering — has likely “been led by organized crime groups based in Europe involving a complex network of individuals within the league and most likely Asian-based illegal sport betting operators.”

The report was submitted to national and international authorities, including the RCMP and Canadian authorities, Interpol, Europol and FIFA.

The private semi-professional league was previously named in one of Europe’s largest match fixing investigations out of Bochum, Germany, when fixer Ante Sapina admitted to rigging a 2009 match. Ursini said those allegations were dismissed about eight months ago.

The CSL was expelled from membership of the Canadian Soccer Association in early 2014 for failing to fulfill its member obligations and violated the association’s rules and regulations, according to a statement released by Canada Soccer at the time.

Ursini said the league did not violate the rules but he is barred from commenting about it due to arbitration on the case.

He said he thinks its good thing, as per the Telegraph’s report, that some bookmakers are not longer offering markets on the competition.

“We’d prefer if we could just shut out all gambling on the league and then there would be no issues.”

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